Sides

The things that go alongside, and two of them are dishes in their own right.

Yogurt rice — thayir sadam — is how a South Indian meal ends: rice folded through curd, tempered with mustard seed and curry leaf, served cool. It is not a side dish at home so much as the last course, eaten to settle everything that came before. Order it that way and it makes more sense than it does in the middle of a meal.

Sambar is the other one: lentils, tamarind and vegetables, the gravy that comes with idly and dosa and is poured over rice at the start of a meals plate. A bowl on its own is a legitimate order.

White rice, raita and boiled eggs are what they sound like.